Tinker Bell (2008)

Directed by: Bradley Raymond | 74 minutes | animation, family, fantasy | Original voice cast: Mae Whitman, America Ferrera, Lucy Liu, Raven-Symoné, Kristin Chenoweth, Pamela Adlon, Jane Horrocks, Anjelica Huston, Jeff Bennett, Rob Paulsen, Jesse McCartney | Dutch voice cast: Angela Schijf, Eline Demunck, Rilke Eykermans, Nurlaila Karim, Anneke Beukman, Lien van de Kelder, Hetty Heyting, Anne Mie Gills, Jop Joris, Peter Thyssen, Jonas van Geel

The beautiful Tinker Bell, the fairy who becomes Peter Pan’s best friend before Wendy came into his life, has very cleverly, but also rightly, received its own franchise from Disney. As important as the light is to Pixar, Tink is to Disney. Millions of viewers see her fluttering around the Disney logo as they insert a DVD or Blu-ray into the player, waving her wand to spread fairy dust. First she was a member of the army of Disney princesses, but because Tinker Bell is not a princess but an elf, a magical creature, the multinational launched a new franchise in 2005, Disney Fairies. Tinker Bell is the central character here.

The film ‘Tinker Bell’ was worked on for years. There were quite a few hurdles to overcome. Initially it was going to be a 2D cartoon, but the technology kept improving and even though the film was already in development phase, it was decided to make the film in CGI. One of the main reasons the film has been delayed is the acquisition of Pixar by Disney. John Lasseter became head of the animation department and was, to put it mildly, not happy with the work in progress of ‘Tinker Bell’. Because Lasseter, known for ‘Cars’ and ‘Toy Story’, among other things, is responsible for the integrity of characters from the Disney classics, including those of Tinker Bell, he must ensure that the character stays close to the original and that was not the case at all in the earlier variant. Lasseter gave the team a second chance and things changed. Peter Pan was written out of the story (“I’m not making a Tinker Bell movie with Peter Pan in it,” according to Lasseter) and the lead role, first assigned to Brittany Murphy, went to Mae Whitman (“The Jungle Book 2”). According to official reporting due to conflicting time schedules, however, it is rumored that Murphy’s private life (she married screenwriter Simon Monjack, ‘Factory Girl’) did not fit Tinker Bell’s image.

Anyway, Lasseter’s involvement with the film is a godsend, as ‘Tinker Bell’ has become an excellent animated film. Set long before Wendy, Michael and John go to Neverland, the story is captivating, especially for the target audience of the film. We see Tinker Bell being ‘born’ (by a baby’s first laugh, true to JM Barrie’s conception of this) and finding her calling in a magical ritual. The animations look great, for example the queen is wearing an enchanting sparkly dress, the fluttering of the fairy wings is phenomenal and the fairy dust well looks like liquid gold. The (young) viewer can empathize well with Tinker Bell’s feelings; the ambitious fairy doesn’t feel important enough as a ‘tinker’ (someone who makes things), although her funny colleagues Bobble and Clash point out that their work is essential. She would rather have a directly responsible task, like other elves who help nature get through the changing of the seasons. That’s what we learn the elves do; they are responsible for changing the seasons. In ‘Peter Pan’ Tink has no voice, yet it is not strange to hear her speak here. Whitman is a decent voice actress, although Murphy would probably have done well too. The score fits perfectly with the images, the Celtic music is well chosen.

‘Tinker Bell’ is an entertaining film, which with enough speed and a running time of about an hour and a quarter, flies around before you know it. The film has enough humor (most scenes with Bobble and Clash and their mouse Cheese are funny and the bird that anxiously crawls back into the egg is hilarious) and enough drama (Tinker Bell’s dilemma). The villain, Videa, is not so bad that she will terrify children. The message that the film gives, that you have to stay true to yourself, is not original, but it is not wrong life wisdom. Fortunately, with three more movies to be announced, we can only conclude that this CGI Tinker Bell can stay!